Ralph ashley



2 Sheets-Sheet l,

'(No Model.)

R. ASBL-E BRUSH HQLDBR PGR DYNAMOS AND .ELECTRIC MoToRS. No. 488,978.

Patentedr Jan'. 3, 1893.

(No Model.) R 2 Sheets-Sheet BRUSH HOLDER FOR DYNAMOS AND ELEGTRIG MOTRS.

Nq. 488,978. Patented JM. 8, 1898.

sii/077255 UNITED STATES NEW JERSEY. Y

PATENT EEICE.

RALPH ASHLEY, oE PHILADELPHIA, PENNsYiNANin, Assieiioe, er MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, To THE 'UNITED' eoLUMinN ELEeTEio ooMPANY, oF

SPECIFICATION forming peri: of Letters Patent No. 88378, deter?. Jennery 3, NQS. Application filed February 18, 1892. Serial No. l$21.915. (No model.)

To caf/IZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I; RALPH ASHLEY, a citisen of the' United States, and e resient of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented eerisain new und useful Improvements in Brush Heldere for Bynanlos and Electric Motors; en@ i l do hereby declare that the following is a, fell, elem, exact description of the invention,

= wilieh willena-ble others skilled in the are te wliieh ii; epperteins te make and use the seme, reerenee seing had to the accompanying rewings, which form a part 'of this speeiosiien, and. in Whichlflignife is e perspective View of the armeiyme ci' en eleet'rie motor' equipped with my improve@ brush holder; Fig. v2 is a. side Viewy 'ne brush, helder and its adjunets; Fig. eL

is e rear elevation of the device; Fig. eis a engiminel sectional View on the Vertical piene iefiieeted by Jalie breken line marked www in. ig. 3; Fighe is airiew showing the pesitien si the brnshholderehen it; iste be replenislie. with a fresh br'nslnend Fig. 6 is e, d'iagremeietie viewshowi'ng thebrush and "nolaler applied to en 'electric engine neiging g er-produeing (ino'l1ors),end has for. its objecirnet' only te se. hold the brush, or brush mete rial, their: ii; shell always be presentedie the eemmnseter at the most eieotive englewifnat is io eey, ei; right angles to the fiat; fneey of e disk sensei neer, and in a, radial or dieiweiri-l eel line with respect te cylindrical or' ring ecmmue'aers-ont, in addition, -tliere'be, hold it against the eommutator with an even and ninw'ierying pressure, regardless of the amount of brush meteriei consumed, and Witheet va.- :z'ying the angle of the brush and, the commui-nter et the peint; of Contact.

Toihis end, my invention yconsists in 1;l1e{A improved construction andueombineiien of parte ci' e brush holder es will be hereinafter 5.o more fully described incl claimed.

in the accompany i ng d rewings, l lieve shown my improved brush helder es appliedl te en 'eieetric motor, A,ei eine 'type in which the an mature has Het (lsieeemineezers B, revelv- 5 5 ing in vertical pie-.nes v The heliier preisen censisis of eieetengnler lien: si' reeeivei G, epee ei b'cfn ends, into which is inserted e seize of @erben er einer suitable bresil materiel, D, ci seen eine ene-shape the?. 6e iswiil iii.; snd'slirle in aile lie This box is sepperted by meedeed, E, ine lower en@ elf which is elempefli end;- iseleel io s suitable sepperi, F, festene; to the .freine ei the mer chine, se es to piesent box C right angles Gg te the ieee ef the disk eeznzniiixeser E..

rejeciing icio the @pen rem end.. of the bon er reeeiver, C, is e plunger erffollwzer, G, wlnieii beers er press ,inse the squared rear' end ef 'tire @eri-con sieb D, wliielleens'i- 7o entes the eenen. This ieiiewe lies e reev- Wereiij; prejeeing ernia er extensien, H, she under side ef wiiieh fesins e meinen?. reeir, l, the ieeli ei' wnieli engege e eoggwlieel el, jenn. nele@ beer-veen bearings l?, l, which ere een g5 neeied @op lby; e, pin-ne er emes piene L, be under sdeei which end she eegg'e. jeeripiieny of wheel ci, one meist-een li i is inseriee, Thus ii; will be' seen 'thee this cross wien the eetii of the Wheel, end else, in eem ineetien with. bei; C, serves es e guidese @euse eek-bals end its Yellewer G- to nieve fee were end beek in e st'ieigliiline, or eti'igfnt ile 'ne ieee oi the eclninutser cli'sk. 85

The ecg-wlieel .l is hollow, end eenieins e eelecl spring, M, which may be wound up by e key iited upon size squsre wndingwtncl N. ln einer werds, this wheel is eonstreete. iile ine barrel ef e Wesen er spring elook, se eo or brush D pleeefl therein, sons io'press the projecting outer end of the latter up against the cominutator.

In Fig. 6, I have shown the position of the brush and brush holder relative to a common cylindrical comnintator, B', as used on most electric motors; it will be seen that the brush is presented to the circumference of the commutator in a line forming an extension of one of the radii of the cylinder, so that the position of the brush does not require to be shifted when it is desired to reverse the motor. brush does not overlap, but bears true edgewise against the successive commutator sectors or segments (as the case may be) re gardless of the direction in which the armature revolves.

In orderto feed the brush Dthrongh the box, from one end to the other, the teeth of rack I are so geared with the teeth of the feed-wheel J that acne-half revolution of the wheel will feed arm Il. and plunger G from one end of the brush-box C to the other. With a spring of proper strength and tension, therefore, the spring-power of the feed- Wheel remains practically unchanged during this operation; that is to say, the pressure of plunger G against brush D does not perceptibly whether fresh brush has just' been inserted,0rWhether one is nearly consume'd- In the latter case, there will be a large amount of surplus power still. stored in the spring, which has expended only a small portion of its force infeeding the rack and 'follower through the brush-box.

In order to facilitate the insertion of a fresh brush (orcake of carbon) into the box,

the bearings of the feed-wheel J are pivoted, at O, upon the'outer end of their supporting bracket P, so that all the parts of the device, except the brush-box or-'holder C, may be swung down into the position shown in Fig. 5, in which position they will be out.' of the Way, leaving the opening' into box G free and unobstructed for the insertion of a fresh cake of carbon. 'lo do this, the arm H is rst pulled back, by means of its finger-piece h, untii its follower G shall have cleared vthe liox, and by the same operation of pulling back arm Il, wheel J will be revolved backward by rack I, so as to again set or wind the-- 'locking it and its rack I in place and preventing the wheel from turning. After av fresh brush has been inserted into box C, the

The

ing' position, at the same time vreinserting plunger G into the box; and by now releasing or disengaging the retaining-patri Z, the wheel with its rack will be free to act upon and press plunger or follower G forward up against the rear end of 1crush D, so as to feed the same vto the commutator with a practically unvaryingl degree of spring-pressure from the beginning to the end of the feed, and, at the -sanie time, Apresent that end ofi the brush nearest to the'coinmutajtor'atv an unvarying angle, as well as with ampiyarying area at the'point of contact. 'Ihlscunslruction of my brush 'holden permits of the' location of f this point of contact 'upon the area; ofthe commutator, whether-this be of a dislt-sh'ape, cylindrical, or annniar, at the. rnost advalr tageous point with respect to the obtaining of a minimum of sparking, a maximum of effective power, and the ygreatest possible facility for reversing the machine.

Having thus described my invention, l claim and desire to secure by Let-tere Patent of the United States:

l. The combination of thebrush, brush; holder or receiver, the follower, and. the

spring-actuated feed-wheel adapted to feed the followerand brush against the com mun tor, substantially as and furthe -purpose set forth.

2. rThe combination of the brush, the brush holder or receiver, the follower having a rearwardly extending arm., and the spring-actuated feed-wheel connected with said-arm so as to push the follower through the receiver and feed the brush to the commutator, substan'tiaily as and for the purpose set forth;

3. A brush-holder for electric machines com prising a box or receiver adapted to contain the brushv material, a follpwer-woririhg in said box and bearing against the brush terial inserted therein, and a spring-actuateti feed-wheel adapted to operate the follower and push it through the box so as to feed tite brush material to the commutator, snbstn? tially as and for'the purpose set forth.

4. In brush holders for electric machines', the combination of a box or receiver adapted to contain the brush material, a follewer working in said box and havinga rearwardiy projecting extension, and a spring-barre?. con nected with said extension so as to push the follower through the receiver, substantiaily as and for thepurpose set forth.

5.' The combination, in' brushgholders for electric machines, of the box or receiver adapted to contain the brush material, the follower provided with a toothed arm or extension, and the 4 spring-actuated cog-wheel engaging said toothed "arm, substantial as and for the purpose4 setforth.

6. The combination, in brush-holders for electric machines, of .the box or receiver adapted to contain the brush matta-iai, the

r in

" 155 parts are swung back to their normal Worlii follower provided with araclt, and the spring- 5o actuated oog-Wheel journaled in hinged bem'- rack bei', subsantieily as and for the purpose zo ings, substantiel] y as and for the purpose set sei; forth. p

forth. 1 In testimony that I claim the foregoing es 7. The combination, with the box or remy own I have hereunto affixed my signature eeiveradapted to ycontain the brush material, in presence of two Witnesses.

of the follower provided with a rearwardly V f ,RALPH ASHLEY. projecting mabber having a recess inl its Witnesses: upperside,the spring-aetuated eog-whee1,and Y THEO. H. MCCALLA, the pawl adapted to engage the recess in the C. W.'KENNEDY. 

